Cathay Pacific cuts flights to avoid cancellations in run-up to Lunar New Year

Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways will cut a dozen flights a day on average until the end of February, the airline said on Sunday, in a move to avoid cancellations as the busy Lunar New Year travel season approaches.
Cathay had to cancel some flights over the peak travel period for Christmas and the year end because its operations were stretched, it said in a statement.
It added, “(Cathay) has consolidated on average six flight pairs per day for the rest of January and February, focusing on routes with multiple daily frequencies, where possible.”
The carrier said it had reviewed its flight schedule and increased the numbers of pilots on standby to avoid disruption in coming weeks.
Cathay, which said in November it intended to recruit 5,000 more staff during 2024, had pruned employees drastically in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and changed staff contract terms and conditions.